Anti-communist manipulation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)

THE YEAR 2014 concludes with the crisis in world politics deepening. The crisis is reflected in the issue of human rights with the politicization, selectivity and double standards practised by the United States, the European Union and various Commonwealth and NATO countries such as Canada. These countries are using the United Nations to push their so-called human rights agenda. For the peoples of the world this is not only worrisome but also reveals to them the urgent need for the renewal of the international arrangements to create a world order where such things cannot take place. The coming year is sure to see the demand of humanity for such a new world order as an expression of the striving of humanity to guarantee peace.

TML Weekly raises profound concerns over how a member state of the UN, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is being demonized by the U.S. and big powers of Old Europe. These imperialist powers are politicizing the issue of human rights to criminalize the DPRK and to replace much needed dialogue and a peace treaty between the DPRK and the U.S. with confrontation and warmongering.

On December 18, with many member states under threat and pressure from the U.S., the European Union and their allies, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution against the DPRK for its alleged human rights violations and so-called crimes against humanity, calling for the matter to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Of the 193 members of the UNGA, the non-binding resolution was passed by a vote of 116 votes to 20 with 52 abstentions. The imperialist politicizing of human rights was evident in the enormous pressure put on those countries that voted against the resolution at the Third Committee stage in November to change their vote, such as El Salvador, Grenada and South Sudan.

The DPRK’s Deputy UN Ambassador An Myong Hun told the UNGA that his delegation rejected the resolution. He pointed out that it is based on a fabricated report by authors who have never visited his country and who blocked all possibility for dialogue and cooperation. He further noted that the DPRK delegation rejected the use of human rights as a political weapon to justify regime change.

Additionally, and again as a result of U.S. maneuvering, the UN Security Council on a procedural vote on December 22 introduced for the first time the “human rights issue in the DPRK” as an agenda item of the 15-member Security Council. This was opposed by China and Russia while Chad and Nigeria abstained. The DPRK condemned the vote and rejected it, pointing out that the Security Council has no mandate to discuss human rights, only matters pertaining to security. Before the vote, China’s UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi said “the Security Council is not the forum to get involved in human rights issues” and urged the Council to “refrain from doing anything that might cause an escalation.”

Ambassador Liu said denuclearization, encouraging dialogue and maintaining stability on the Korean peninsula are the shared priorities of the global community and that “getting involved in the human rights situation will go against the above goals and can only bring harm instead of benefits.”

In concert with the manipulations in the UN, Sony Pictures and the U.S. government are orchestrating a fraud to promote a racist pro-war film full of hatred towards the DPRK, its leadership and people. From the get-go, the disinformation and accusations levelled against the DPRK for its alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures were baseless. No evidence to justify these accusations has been presented by the U.S. state agencies or anyone else. The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK in a statement December 20 rejected these accusations as groundless attacks on the dignity of the country and its leadership, and proposed that the U.S. conduct a joint investigation with the DPRK.

The affair is all very murky. It can be seen that Sony Pictures stands to gain much publicity and revenue from these false accusations while the U.S. government is using them to increase its threats of war and regime change against the DPRK. It raises the possibility that the entire dirty business may have been engineered by the U.S. government and Sony itself to promote racist hatred of Koreans and war against the DPRK, and in passing boost sales of the movie. All this is a serious war crime.

TML Weekly calls on all peace-loving people in Canada and around the world to stand with the people of the DPRK and their leadership with a clear conscience by supporting the right to self-determination of all countries in the world and the right of the peoples to be and to determine their way of life. The politics of regime change in the name of high ideals are thoroughly exposed as imperialist takeover and have nothing to do with promoting freedom, democracy or human rights. This is the essence of the matter.

U.S. Imperialism stands condemned

The U.S. attacks against the DPRK are a continuation of the Korean War in another form. The U.S. has never accepted its defeat in the Korean War — an unjust war that began when the U.S. manipulated the UN Security Council in June 1950 to interfere in a civil war in Korea, which had erupted in the course of bringing to account those who had colluded with the cruel decades-long Japanese colonization of Korea. The U.S. war against Korea resulted in the deaths of over 4 million Koreans and the total destruction of the infrastructure of the DPRK. Far from making amends for these crimes, the U.S. continues to use its positions of power to demonize the DPRK and organize for regime change.

By confounding the issues on the Korean Peninsula using the so-called human rights agenda, and making a mockery of serious matters with constant propaganda and anti-Korean racist pro-war films, the U.S. wants to sow doubt about the DPRK and generate support for an agenda of U.S. aggression, war and regime change. It seeks to ensure nobody rises in defence of the just cause of the Korean people.

In opposition, the people should defend the principle that no power has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, and all nations should uphold the principles of peaceful coexistence, equality of nations, non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations and prohibition of the use of force to sort out conflicts between nations. On the Korean peninsula, the demand is that the U.S. sign a permanent peace treaty and remove all its troops and weapons. Also, the situation underlines the need for the renewal of the UN and the UN Security Council to guarantee the equality of nations and peoples, non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, and the right of all nations and people to independence, self-determination and peace.

The recent example of the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States as a result of dialogue and diplomacy and the non-use of force is proof positive that conflicts between nations and peoples can be resolved peacefully. No matter what differences exist over matters that concern political, social, economic and other affairs, problems can be resolved through high level-talks and diplomacy, which the DPRK has consistently invited the U.S. to do.

TML Weekly calls on peace- and justice-loving people from Canada and around the world to defeat the blatant maneuvering within the UN by the U.S. — the biggest violator of human rights in the world, and its allies. This can be done by condemning this diversionary warmongering campaign targeting the DPRK. In 2015, the demand that the U.S. stop its criminal activity against the DPRK and sign a peace treaty with that country must be escalated. This is what will end the Korean War and favour the interests of all peoples.

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